Why Can’t I Hear God?

Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. ~ Psalm 62:5 (NLT)

Scientists have built the world’s quietest room. It is full of sound absorbing material, and when a person is locked in there, they can hear no sound at all. People who have entered are completely shut off from the world. (You can read more about it here: https://goo.gl/fqAA6B) In fact, staying in the room for more than a few minutes will begin to wreak havoc on your mental abilities. People that have tried to linger in the room report hallucinating (seeing things. Everyone who enters must sit down because they will become dizzy after only a short time. You literally can only hear your bodily functions: heart beating, stomach gurgling, etc. The longest anyone has been able to stand being locked in the room is 45 minutes. It’s too quiet.

Silence can be downright difficult. We live in a society that is dominated by noise of one type or another. The noise from televisions, radios, phones, gaming systems, vehicles, airplanes, dogs, cats, roosters, the noisy neighbor upstairs, and a million other things, are absorbed by our hearing every day. There is also visual noise that we intake through our phones, tablets, and televisions. Nearly everywhere we turn in this day-and-age is filled with noise. That’s why our verse today can seem so weird, “Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.” What does this mean?

It means that we must be present with God without distraction. When we are supposed to be praying, are we saying words but thinking of the million other things we should be doing? When we are supposed to be worshiping at church, are we too busy playing on our phones? When we read the Scriptures for devotional time, are we racing through so we can be done, rather than taking it slow and contemplating the amazing truths contained within?

Being present with God on a daily basis – without any distraction – is of utmost importance. King David realized it thousands of years ago. The noise in our lives has only grown louder ever since. We must shut out the noise and be present, without distraction, in the presence of God. In the silence we put our focus on Him. He is who we see. He is who we hear. He is who we feel. He is who we experience.